Our review of the documentary Mirazur, from the stars to the Moon: in the kitchens of the best restaurant in the world on MyCanal

Chef Mauro Colagreco prepares dishes based on products harvested from his vegetable garden according to the lunar cycle. Rainmaker Content Limited/Verane Frediani and Franck Ribi

REVIEW – The Documentary Mirazur, from the stars to the Moon follows Mauro Colagreco in the transformation of his restaurant in Menton after the Covid crisis. Joyful and instructive.

March 2020: Édouard Philippe, then Prime Minister, decrees the closure of places not essential to the life of the country to stem the spread of Covid-19. First of them, the restaurants. This decision then cut in full flight a Mauro Colagreco whose rise seemed inexorable. A year earlier, the Italian-Argentinian chef had indeed hung the grail – the third Michelin star – in the sky of his Mirazur de Menton. And a few months later, the latter was crowned in Singapore “best restaurant in the world” – the first French – by the decried but influential ranking of the World’s 50 Best.

Leaves, flowers, roots and fruits

The three months of closure imposed are for the 3-star the occasion of a total questioning. “I could not find the meaning of reopening the restaurant as it had been closed”, he explains, moved, in front of the camera of Vérane Frédiani and Franck Ribière, already authors of Steak (R)evolution, who went in search of the best meat in the world. This questioning will lead to an entirely redesigned menu (36 new dishes will be created in a few weeks), a process that the documentary retraces. Like most cooks forced to stop, Mauro Colagreco discovered something that until then had been totally foreign to him: free time.

And it was in one of his five permaculture gardens, the closest to his home, a few meters from Mirazur, that he decided to spend it. “I find in the garden a peace that I find nowhere else. The real work is there. What we do in the kitchen is important, but it’s a bit of a fuss. In order to maintain the balance that the vegetable garden had given him during this period, but also to regain the energy necessary to lead his troop, he decided to change everything: four new menus with the common thread of leaves, flowers, roots or the fruits, in agreement with the influence of the Moon on the harvests, being able to follow one another each day.

Teamwork

If the keystone of the documentary is the announcement of the closure of March 2020, the latter also returns to the beginnings of the native of La Plata, relatively little known. As soon as he arrived in France, he refused to be cataloged as an Argentinian chef. On an internship with Bernard Loiseau – who considered him “like his spiritual son”, reports his widow – he discovers the importance of providing emotion. He will leave Saulieu shortly after the suicide of his mentor. Colagreco also talks about its difficult beginnings in Menton, when it did not know where to find either products or suppliers. The Mirazur would not have earned any money for ten years!

Far from the strict and intimidating image that one can have of a great chef, Colagreco certainly appears demanding, but above all human, warm, sensitive, attached to those around him. The film also takes the time to paint a portrait of his wife, Julia, who runs the restaurant, as well as several members of his brigade, in particular Florentia Montes, then executive chef. What to perceive that, if Colagreco is able to improvise a recipe by the minute thanks to a new ingredient discovered on the market, the creative process is first and foremost a team effort, challenged daily to nourish the sensitivity and poetry of the cuisine served at Le Mirazur.

Rare behind-the-scenes access

Vérane Frédiani and Franck Ribière met the chef in Japan in December 2019. The feeling went so well that they decided to imagine a film on the Mirazur, ignoring the health crisis that awaited them. This closeness, palpable, gave them access to rare backstage, but deprived them of a critical eye. What to make a feel good movie cuisine that only makes you want to break the piggy bank to get a seat at the table in Menton.

Our review of the documentary Mirazur, from the stars to the Moon: in the kitchens of the best restaurant in the world on MyCanal